Complete Story
10/12/2017
Video describes how Plain Dealer became first paper to publish My Lai massacre photos
In an unprecedented move in 1969, The Plain Dealer published gruesome photos documenting the My Lai massacre which featured the dead bodies of men, women and children killed in an attack in Vietnam by American troops.
The story, which was placed on the front page of the Nov. 20, 1969 paper, marked a significant moment in the paper's history, making it the first to take the leap to publish photos of that kind about the event.
But the massacre and the Vietnam war as a whole paved a significant portion of American history in general, highlighted in the 18-hour, 10-part documentary series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, "The Vietnam War," on PBS.
The story behind how The Plain Dealer obtained the images, which allowed the paper to be the first to publish images of their kind, trace back to Northeast Ohio roots and forward-thinking individuals brave enough to take a risk.
Watch the video above featuring those involved -- from the Army photographer to newspaper publisher -- as to why the photos were printed and the impact they made.
